Carbon Monoxide question

[kfrere]

Last week, while camping during a cold snap, we closed ourselves up in our AI about 9:00 p.m. Because the temps dropped in to the 20's the furnace kicked on and off all night long. About 8:00 the next morning we were still shut up inside when the CO detector chirped a couple of times. We immediately opened the door and it didn't chirp again.

I assume that if it had been a dying battery issue that it would have kept chirping regardless of the air flow.

Are these vans so air tight that we should always crack a window?

[73shark]

The only way CO from the furnace could get in is for the fire box or flue pipe to have a leak.

Did your macerator pump or fresh water tank freeze?

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by kfrere

Last week, while camping during a cold snap, we closed ourselves up in our AI about 9:00 p.m. Because the temps dropped in to the 20's the furnace kicked on and off all night long. About 8:00 the next morning we were still shut up inside when the CO detector chirped a couple of times. We immediately opened the door and it didn't chirp again.

I assume that if it had been a dying battery issue that it would have kept chirping regardless of the air flow.

Are these vans so air tight that we should always crack a window?

Yes - if you are going to run the LP gas furnace all night then it would be smart to have a small vent cracked open. I leave the vent in the bath open all the time. But I don't think I have ever run the LP furnace all night. Most of my cold camping was with in a campground with electricity so I would use a small electric space heater to keep the van at about 50degF overnight. Sometimes when is wasn't too cold while camping without electric power I just went without heat overnight and fired up the LP furnace in the morning to warm up.

The Interstate Owners manual mentions the CO danger on page 2-10, see attached clip.